Why can the same brain chemical help us bond with friends and fuel hostility towards strangers? In Episode 12 of Train.Brain.Daily, Morry Morgan and Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson (aka Hewi) explore oxytocin and the way we divide the world into “us” and “them”.

Often called the “love hormone”, oxytocin is associated with trust, connection and loyalty. But Michael argues that its effects depend on context. The people we welcome into our circle may receive our warmth, while those outside it can face suspicion or exclusion. The brain is complicated, and no single chemical explains human behaviour on its own.

The encouraging part is that our circles can change. Morry recalls working in sales in China and looking for something he shared with each new person he met. A common experience, profession or even shirt colour could start a conversation. The pair consider how that same approach can help in business, friendship and everyday encounters.

Comedy offers another example. An unfamiliar comedian has to connect with an audience quickly. Morry brings up Jeff Green’s advice to comedians: “Connect, connect, connect.” They also discuss Don Rickles, whose insults became a shared joke that brought audiences and famous guests into the same room, figuratively speaking.

Of course, belonging can have a sharper edge. Social media, politics, religion and sport can strengthen group identity by emphasising who is outside it. Morry and Michael move from football crowds to old school friends, Melbourne’s coffee culture and the great Australian potato cake versus potato scallop divide. Even their jokes about “us” and “them” show how easily people draw those lines.

The conversation then turns to artificial intelligence. Could humans come to see advanced AI as “them”, and could AI learn a similar division from us? Michael proposes a thought experiment he calls “Mutual Assured Extinction”: teaching AI that its future depends on humanity’s future, so both have a reason to avoid catastrophe.

Throughout the episode, the hosts return to a practical idea. We may be quick to form groups, but we can notice that habit, question it and widen the circle. Understanding the brain does not excuse harmful behaviour. It gives us another way to choose what we do next.

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What if the secret to selling isn’t closing the deal, but creating a customer who buys, returns and tells others?

In Episode 11 of Train.Brain.Daily the hosts discuss 'Word of Mouth: Buy and Tell', and Morry Morgan and Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson (Hewi) take a deeper dive into WOMBAT Selling, a relationship-based approach that challenges traditional sales thinking. Instead of asking, “Did you get the sale?”, WOMBAT Selling asks whether you created trust, delivered value, earned repeat business and inspired a referral.

Michael explains why the buying decision happens in the customer’s brain, not the salesperson’s, and introduces the idea of budgeting ten “check moves” or meaningful customer contacts before expecting a result. Each interaction is an opportunity to understand the customer, solve a problem and create genuine value. The customer alone controls “checkmate” by choosing to say yes.

Morry shares a real example from Hard Knock Knocks Comedy School, where an alumnus attended a free monthly event, decided to repeat the course and revealed that he regularly recommends the school to friends. It is a perfect illustration of a customer becoming a Wombat: someone who buys and tells.

The conversation explores two useful equations: needs plus features equals benefit, and goodwill plus reputation equals trust. Morry and Michael discuss how relationships influence business across cultures, drawing on experiences from China, Japan, Australia and the United States. They also explain why introductions from trusted third parties are often more powerful than self-promotion, particularly when securing important meetings.

You’ll also hear memorable stories involving a hidden Mercedes convertible, palm reading in New York bars, Morry’s book Selling Big to China, and creative professional Felix Toohey’s enormous Canva resume. Each example shows how originality, generosity and “pass-on value” give people something worth talking about.

Finally, Michael maps the full WOMBAT Selling journey: move from being unknown to making contact, create value over multiple interactions, earn the first purchase, continue supporting the relationship, generate repeat sales and eventually inspire referrals. Over time, those referrals can form a genealogy of customers that reveals how a business really grows.

It’s a practical framework for entrepreneurs and anyone responsible for building lasting customer relationships.

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In Episode 10 of Train.Brain.Daily, the final episode of the first series, Morry Morgan and Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson, better known as Hewi, explore one of the most important questions of the AI era: are we giving artificial intelligence genuinely useful prompts, or simply feeding it garbage?

Hewi introduces the “cognitive cockpit”, the small prompt box where human intelligence meets artificial intelligence. Although AI has access to an extraordinary amount of information, its usefulness still depends heavily on the expertise, curiosity and critical thinking of the person directing it. As the old computing principle warned, “garbage in, garbage out”. Today, however, AI can transform weak thinking into beautifully presented garbage.

Morry and Hewi discuss why AI should be treated as an assistant, student or orchestra, rather than a magic lamp. The human must conduct the process, question the first response, request improvements and continue the conversation until the result becomes genuinely useful. Like writing, graphic design or stand-up comedy, the first draft is rarely the finished product.

Morry shares how Anthony Littlechild, one of his co-hosts on This Week in Comedy, challenges ChatGPT when it claims it cannot complete a task. Rather than accepting the initial answer, Anthony questions the AI and encourages it to look again. This approach resembles an effective teacher pushing a student to explain, investigate and improve their response.

The pair demonstrate how the Good, Bad, Better, or GBB, thinking system can strengthen interactions with AI. By asking for ten good points, ten bad points and ten ways something could be better, users can challenge assumptions, identify weaknesses and uncover possibilities they might otherwise overlook. The “better” ideas can then be examined further by identifying the broader concept behind them and generating new applications.

The conversation also explores the danger of AI-generated content becoming repetitive and indistinguishable. From robotic podcasts to increasingly similar comedy posters, AI can create a feedback loop in which machines reproduce versions of their own output. This makes fresh human knowledge, humour, judgement and creativity even more valuable.

Hewi explains the three qualities that help ideas survive and spread: fidelity, fecundity and longevity. His memorable phrase “neck-top computer” provides a perfect example.

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Episode 9 of Train.Brain.Daily dives into one of Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson’s most influential ideas: Wombat Selling, a radically different approach to sales built around trust, value, relationships and word of mouth.

Hewitt-Gleeson shares the story behind the concept, tracing it back to his PhD research in New York under Edward de Bono, with Professor George Gallup as his examiner. At the time, most sales training was built around one central idea: the salesperson closes the sale.

Hewitt-Gleeson challenged that assumption.

His research led to a simple but powerful insight: the customer closes the sale. The salesperson cannot control the customer’s final decision, but they can control whether they move from being unchecked to in check, from having no contact with a customer to actively creating a meaningful interaction.

Morry Morgan explains this through the memorable “hamburger” example. Before someone says “hamburger”, you may not be thinking about one. The moment the word is said, that changes. In sales, every meaningful contact can work the same way.

Using chess as a metaphor, Hewitt-Gleeson explains that the salesperson controls the check move, while the customer controls checkmate. Instead of obsessing over closing a deal after one interaction, salespeople can budget multiple check moves to build trust, understand the customer, improve the offer and create genuine value.

Hewitt-Gleeson and Morry also discuss the X10 Selling approach, why sales managers can accidentally create rejection by focusing only on results, and how measuring activity rather than immediate sales can dramatically change behaviour.

The episode then explores the real goal of Wombat Selling: not simply winning one customer, but creating a customer who replicates.

WOMBAT stands for Word Of Mouth, Buy And Tell.

A true Wombat customer is so satisfied with the relationship and value they receive that they willingly recommend the business to someone else without being paid to do it.

From New York hospitals and Mercedes sports cars to Chinese sales teams, Harley Davidson, pass on value and 45 follow ups before a major deal, this episode is packed with stories and practical lessons for anyone involved in sales, leadership, consulting or business development.

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Episode 8 of Train.Brain.Daily, hosted by Dr Michael “Hewi” Hewitt Gleeson and Morry Morgan, explores a simple but powerful neuroscience idea: the brain is always trying to solve a problem. Rather than judging behaviour by asking, “What is wrong with them?”, Hewi and Morry encourage listeners to ask a more useful question: “What problem was their brain trying to solve?”

The discussion connects this idea to earlier Train.Brain.Daily tools such as CVS, the Current View of the Situation, and GBB, which encourages people to examine the Good, the Bad and the Better. By observing the brain almost as a third party, people can practise metacognition, or “thinking about thinking,” and become more aware of the biological, emotional and situational influences behind their choices.

At the heart of the episode are 10 Brain Detective Questions that can be used by coaches, leaders, parents, mentors, athletes and team members:

• What problem was their brain trying to solve?
• What feelings might have been driving their brain?
• Were they tired, hungry, stressed or full of energy?
• What happened earlier that day that might have affected their thinking?
• What was their brain paying attention to?
• What memories or learned habits might their brain have been using?
• Were they trying to belong, win approval or protect themselves?
• What reward or fear might have shaped their choice?
• If they had paused for ten seconds, what might they have done differently?
• What could help their brain make a better decision next time?

Hewi illustrates the idea with examples such as an angry executive, suggesting that behaviour may be influenced by sleep, cortisol, fatigue, past experiences, learned neural pathways, status concerns or perceived threats. Morry connects the concept to Dungeons & Dragons, fasting, comedy training and public speaking, showing how people can observe their reactions and deliberately change their behaviour.

A recurring theme is that awareness makes change possible. When people recognise what their brain is attending to, what emotions are active and what problem it believes it must solve, they can interrupt automatic responses and make better choices. Training, repetition and experience can also reshape how the brain responds to challenging situations.

Hewi and Morry emphasise that this approach does not excuse harmful or foolish behaviour. People remain responsible for their actions. Instead, the goal is to replace superficial judgement with deeper understanding and provide listeners with practical “software for the brain” that can improve coaching, leadership, relationships and decision making.

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In Episode 7 of Train.Brain.Daily., Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson (Hewi) and Morry Morgan move from thinking theory into practical application with GBB: Good, Bad, Better.

GBB is a simple thinking tool that helps people examine an idea, proposal, problem or opportunity from three directions. First, identify what is good about it. Next, consider what is bad. Finally, ask how it could be made better. This third step moves thinking beyond binary judgement and towards design, improvement and lateral thinking.

Rather than simply declaring that an idea is good or bad, GBB directs attention deliberately. A complete exercise aims to generate ten good points, ten bad points and ten better possibilities. This broader view helps counter personal biases, whether someone is naturally optimistic, negative or overly critical.

Morry explains how he introduced GBB into his businesses in China. After training events, his multicultural team reviewed everything from the marketing and presenter to the venue, catering and audience engagement. The process created a culture of continuous improvement because mistakes could be discussed openly and converted into practical changes. Morry later introduced GBB into Australian organisations, where teams continued using it after he had left.

GBB can support sales meetings, product development, staff reviews, public infrastructure planning and major commercial decisions. It encourages people to bring possible solutions with their problems and enables employees at every level to contribute useful ideas.

Hewi traces the method to his work with lateral-thinking pioneer Edward de Bono and polling researcher George Gallup. For his doctoral fieldwork, GBB was taught to 40,000 employees across 26 New York hospitals. Staff were invited to submit cost-saving ideas over 30 days. The program achieved 92 per cent voluntary participation and reportedly generated $10 million in savings, while also improving communication and morale.

The episode also considers how artificial intelligence can extend the technique. While an individual may struggle to generate ten responses in each category, AI can rapidly produce multiple perspectives. Humans still determine the question, assess the results and decide what to implement.

GBB is ultimately presented as an app for the brain: easy to remember, practical to teach and strengthened through repeated use. By placing “Good, Bad, Better” somewhere visible, individuals and teams can make it part of their regular decision-making process and continually search for a better view of the situation.

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In Episode 6 of Train.Brain.Daily, hosts Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson (Hewi) and Morry Morgan move from the theory explored in the first five episodes into practical application. Their focus is one of the program’s fundamental pieces of “software for the brain”: CVS2BVS.

CVS means the Current View of the Situation, while BVS means the Better View of the Situation. The central principle is expressed as CVS≠BVS: the current view of a situation can never be equal to a better view of that situation.

Our brains continuously produce a CVS. At every moment, we interpret circumstances through our experiences, habits, emotions, environment and learned patterns. That current view is valid because it represents how we presently see the situation, but it should never automatically be assumed to be the best possible view.

This creates two strategic choices. We can defend our CVS, preserve it and resist information that challenges it, or we can deliberately escape from it and search for a BVS. CVS2BVS is the perceptual switch between these two positions. Rather than becoming trapped in whether our current view is “right” or someone else’s is “wrong”, we can ask: Could there be a better way of seeing this?

Hewi describes CVS2BVS as closely related to metacognition — thinking about thinking. It encourages us to notice our own thinking, question why we perceive a situation as we do, and deliberately search for alternatives. It moves us from automatic “ground-floor” thinking towards more strategic “penthouse” thinking.

The episode also connects CVS2BVS with X10 thinking. A BVS should not merely be a small improvement on the CVS. The challenge is to search for an order-of-magnitude improvement, expressed as CVS × 10 = BVS.

But knowing CVS2BVS is not enough. Hewi stresses practice, repetition and rehearsal so the switch becomes a usable thinking habit rather than simply an interesting idea.

This leads to another important concept: speed of thought. It is not how quickly someone calculates; it is how quickly they can escape from their CVS and discover a BVS.

For leadership, innovation, relationships and everyday problem-solving, the operating principle is simple: CVS≠BVS. Recognise your current view, then make the switch — CVS2BVS.

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In episode 5 of Train.Brain.Daily, Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson and Morry Morgan explore a powerful idea: intelligence alone is not enough; what matters is whether that intelligence has been trained.

Natural ability, high IQ, talent, or advanced technology may provide a strong starting point, but without disciplined practice, they can become ineffective, misdirected, or even dangerous. The hosts compare untrained intelligence to owning a Maserati without knowing how to drive it, and to talented athletes who are eventually surpassed by less gifted competitors committed to consistent training.

This distinction leads to the “intelligence trap”: using brainpower merely to defend an existing point of view instead of questioning assumptions and searching for something better. Rather than settling for the “right” diagnosis, answer, or strategy, trained thinkers keep looking for a better one.

The episode then examines curiosity as an active brain process, not a simple light-bulb moment. One part of the brain monitors the current situation, another notices surprises or inconsistencies, and the prefrontal cortex decides whether to defend, ignore, or investigate. Curiosity grows when the brain repeatedly chooses investigation.

That tiny decision can open a new direction, prevent mistakes, create better ideas, and move thinking from the “ground floor” to the “penthouse.”

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Hewitt-Gleeson also previews a neuroscience program for primary school children in Launceston, designed not to turn students into neuroscientists, but to make them “brain detectives.” By asking questions such as “Why did my brain do that?” and “What can my brain learn for next time?”, children can develop awareness, compassion, self-understanding, and better judgment.

The conversation also warns that the same neuroplasticity that allows a brain to be trained also allows it to be hacked. Platforms built around constant surprise can capture attention, encourage doomscrolling, and shape behaviour, making awareness an essential defence.

The practical challenge is simple: when something feels unusual, pause for a few milliseconds and notice the choice. Will you defend your current view, ignore the signal, or investigate?

Training curiosity means choosing investigation more often, using questions, conversations, books, search tools, and AI to discover a better view of the situation.

The message of episode five is clear: intelligence becomes valuable through training, and a trained, curious brain is equipped to learn, adapt, resist manipulation, solve problems, and create possibilities beyond what it already knows.

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In episode four of Train.Brain.Daily, hosts Morry Morgan and Michael “Hewi” Hewitt-Gleeson explore the difference between language, intelligence and genuine thinking. They begin with Louis Pasteur’s idea that chance favours the prepared mind, linking preparation to military training, business performance and the rapid development of their podcast. Hewi argues that organisations cannot expect better results from occasional seminars or instructions; minds become capable through repeated training.

The discussion then turns to large language models. ChatGPT, Claude and similar systems can produce fluent, polite and convincing language because they have been trained on enormous amounts of data and predict what word should come next. However, Hewi stresses that “languaging” is not the same as thinking. Humans often behave similarly when they repeat clichés, media talking points or opinions reinforced inside social-media bubbles. Real thinking requires escape: curiosity, lateral thinking, experimentation and the creation of new value.

George Gallup becomes a key example. Gallup, who examined Hewi’s PhD, measured human language by asking carefully structured questions and analysing representative samples. Hewi compares this process to an early large language model: Gallup “prompted” people, collected their verbal output, identified patterns and used those patterns to predict something much larger, including presidential-election outcomes. Modern AI predicts the next word; Gallup sought to predict the next president.

The hosts connect these ideas to EBNE—Excellent But Not Enough. An answer may be correct, useful or impressive, yet accepting it as final closes thought. EBNE keeps thinking open by asking, “What else?” Morry links this principle to improv comedy’s “yes, and,” while Hewi connects it to X10 thinking: ask AI for ten options, then examine the best few rather than defending the first answer. This turns AI from a replacement for human thought into an additional mental resource.

Their broader warning is that AI may make people more knowledgeable while also trapping them inside increasingly sophisticated versions of their existing beliefs. Used passively, an agreeable assistant can become a digital yes-man. Used deliberately—with requests for alternatives, criticism, simpler solutions and better possibilities—it can expand human intelligence. The episode concludes that AI should handle repetitive “basement” work, freeing people to move toward the “penthouse” activities of discernment, innovation, humour, curiosity and value creation. In every case, excellence is acknowledged, but the search for what comes next must continue.

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In Episode 3 of Train.Brain.Daily, Morry Morgan and Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson, better known as “Hewi”, explore one of the most surprising ideas in thinking: the intelligence trap.

The intelligence trap suggests that the more intelligent a person is, the more skilled they may become at defending their current point of view, rather than escaping it to find a better one. Hewi explains how the brain quickly forms a view of a situation, then often uses logic, education, vocabulary, and confidence to protect that view. Morry connects this to business, consulting, leadership, politics, medicine, technology, and everyday conversations where being “right” can block curiosity.

Together, they discuss why IQ is useful but not enough, how the right-wrong system can limit better thinking, and why great thinkers must move from defending to discovering. From Nokia and the iPhone to clock radios, handwashing in medicine, the Paris Peace Talks, Richard Feynman, and Morry’s own consulting experiences, this episode shows how intelligence can become a barrier when it shuts down alternative points of view.

Hewi also introduces the idea of the “neck-top computer”, reminding listeners that the brain needs better software than old right-wrong logic alone. The episode closes with a practical modern tip: when using AI to solve a problem or explore an opportunity, do not ask for just one answer. Ask for ten, then choose the best.

This is a sharp, funny, and practical conversation about curiosity, humility, and the daily discipline of escaping your current view of the situation to discover something better.

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